Plate-fabricating machine



Feb. 16 1926.

w. J. TANGERMAN PLATE FABRICATING MACHINE Filed Jan. 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 W. J. TANGERMAN PLATE FABRIGATING MACHINE Feb. 16

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. '7, 1922 Wnwsss Feb. 16 192s.

1,573,102 W. J. TANGERMAN PLATE FABRICATING MACHINE Filed Jan. 27, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Feb. 16 1926.

I 1,573,102 w. J. TANGERMAN PLATE FABRICATING momma Filed Jan. 2 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 W. M Q FF\$ k W W MM Patented Feb. 16, 1926.

FATENT JOFFIQE,

"WILLIAM J. TAMGEBMAN, 01" HAMMQND, INDIAITA.

PLATE-FABRICATTNG NIACHINE. I

Application filed January 27, 1922.

To all h 0m may colic-om:

Be it known that l, lVinLiAM J. 'lnnonn- MAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hammond, county of Lake, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new, useful, and Improved Plate-Fabricating Machine, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates generally to improvements in plate fabricating ntiachines, but relates more particularly to machines for perforating or punching plates.

In the manufacture of tanks, boilers, chimneys, and many other articles that are fabricated by the use of metal plates, it is necessary to provide the plate or plates with a large number of holes. The number of these holes, the placing thereof, the size and disposition vary through a great range. In order to punch a plate having variously spaced holes it has heretofore been necessary to set up the punch press with as many punches as there are holes disposed across the sheet. and as there frequently are a large number this is an extremely slow and laborious operation. In many instances one hole will be offset from a hole which is needed at some other point along the sheet, such,

a short distance that it is impossible to provide punches sufficiently close to make the necessary perforations. This necessitates the punching of so many holes as can be made by the punches that can be accommodated in the machine and then the sep-- plate. Also, under the practice heretofore prevailing, it has been an expensive operation to punch a relatively few plates this has added greatly to the cost of fabricated articles made from plates.

The general object of my invention is to provide a machine wherewith plates can be punched or perforated at less expense.

Another object of my invention is to provide a. machine wherewith plates can be punched quickly and easily, and wherewith all of the desired holes in the plates can be made in one passage of the plate or sheet through the machine.

Another object of my invention is to proand Serial No. 532,240.

vide a machine wherewith the heretofore manual shifting of the plate for the purposes of spotting hole centers may be eliminated, and simple, quick, and easily operablemeans provided to accomplish the desired result.

I aim also to provide a machine of the character mentioned which can be set upto' punch a given number and arrangement of holes quickly, easily and at little expense. Other objects of my invention-are to pro vide a machine which, relative tothe work to be perforn'ied, shall be simpleand which shall be well. adapted to operate accurately over a long period of time.

My invention consists generally in a machine of the form, arrangement, construction and co-operation of the partswhereby the above named objects, together with others that will appearhereinafter, are attainable; and myinvention will be more readily understoochby reference to the ac- Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine,

portionsthereof being broken away to disclose parts which otherwise would be hidden from view.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the machine, certain of the superstructure being removed, better to disclose the pertinent parts of the machine.

Fig. l is a detail sectional View substantially along the line 4-4: of Fig. 2, but upon an enlarged. scale.

. Fig. 5 is a detail view along the line 5--5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1; and I Fig. 7 is a view along the line 77 of Fig. 6, certain of the parts being broken away to disclose the interior construction.

The machine shown in the drawings'conr prises a centrally arranged heavy casting frame 1 which is suitably secured upon the floor or support, 2. The fran'ie 1 is provided with an upstanding portion 3, in

which there is suitably mounted, for rotation, a large shaft 4, The shaft 4t may be suitably driven from the pulley 5 which s operatively connected by means of suitable clutch mechanism 6. 7 and 8 are vertically arranged guides in which a sliding head 9 is guided to and from its working position. For moving the head 9 back and forth, arms 10 and 11 are provided which, in turn, e11- gage eccentrics mounted upon the shaft 4. Mounted on the underside of the movable head 9, at opposite ends thereof, will be found a plurality of punches 12 and 13, re spectively, which are suitably aligned with the die blocks 14 and 15, respectively that are mounted upon the stationary bed portion 16 of the machine. While each group of dies 12 and 13 are here shown as six in number, this number may be more or less, depending upon the work to be performed. As will appear shortly, the dies 12 and 13 are utilized to punch the side edges of the sheet. Instead. of spacing dies across the movable head 9 for punching the holes in the end edges of the sheet, as well as other holes that may be desired between the side edges, I have provided a novel construction for punching such holes. .F or this purpose, I provide a horizontally movable punch head 17 in which aremounted a plurality of punches 18. The movable punch head 17 is provided with a dove-tail portion 19 which enters the guide way 20 that extends from side to side of the machine and which is carried by the vertically movable head 9. Directly beneath the punches 18 a die block 21 which likewise is mounted. for hori' zont-al sliding movement, being positioned in the horizontal'guideway 22 that is formed in the bed of the machine. Interposed between the punches 18 and the die'block 21. is a stripper plate 27 which is moved back and forth, at the same time that the punch holder 17 and the die block 21 are moved, so that italways maintains its proper tween the said parts.

The punch holder 17 and the die block 21 receive their movement through the instrum'entality of pusherarms 28 and 29, respectively, which are connected to a carriage 30. The pusher arm 28 is pivotally connected to the punch holder 17,as indicated at 31, and to the carriage, as indicated-at 32. Pivots 33 and 34 connect the lower push rod 29 to the die block 21 and the carriage 30, respectively, These pivots permit the necessary freedom of movement.

The stripper plate 27receives its movement by means of the link 35 that is connected to the upper pusher arm 28. lVhile the stripper plate 27 must move back and forth with the punch holder 17 and the die block, 21, in order to function properly, it must prevent the upward movement of the plate that has been punched, and to prevent such undesired movement it is provided with end portions 36 and 37, respectively, that are in sl'ida'ble engagement with the lower position be part of I-beams 38 and 39, respectively. These I-beams extend across the machine and are suitably secured to the stationary parts of the frame of the machine, as indicated at 4:0 and &1, respectively.

The plate to be punched is indicated by means of dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings and bears the reference character 42 from which it will be evident that it passes under the stripper element 27 and over the die block 21. Means are provided for moving the plate through the machine so that the punches 12 and 13 may operate upon the desired edge portions thereof and by means of the carriage 30 and the mechanism carried thereby, the movable punches may be quickly and easily moved to the desired position.

I shall first describe the means for moving the plate, through the machine, and shall then follow with a description of the mechanism for moving the carriage 30 .and for stopping it at desired points.

For moving the plate through the machine I have provided a carriage which, as here shown, is composed of I-bcams 4a and arranged in parallel relation. These I- beams extend entirely through the main frame of the machine as well as a considerable distance forwardly and realwvardty thereof. These I-beams are cross-connected at their front and rear ends by means of the U-shaped span members 4-5 and 4th. The members 15 and 46 are detachably secured to the I-beams. t3 and 4:4. as by means of clips 17 and 1-8, but when the elements 15 and 46 are secured to the I-beams, the I- beams are rigidly connected. so as to corn stitute a carriage of such construction that, movement of any of the partsthereof causes like movement of all of the parts. I or the purpose of moving the carriage, the I-l; ams

43 and 1 1 are arovided with ear racks -(l9 and 50, respectively, upon their bases, which, in turn, mesh with pinions 51 and 52 that are carried upon a cross shaft 53. The "cross shaft 53 is mounted for rotation in suitable bearings supported from stationary parts of the machine frame, and at its outer end is provided with a hand wheel 5 Thus, by moving the hand wheel 54 in one direction,

the carriage may be moved through the machine from front to rear, and by reversing the hand wheel, the carriage may be restored to its initial position. The I-beams ot the carriage, it will beobsmvcd, are mounted upon a plurality of rollers that are carried in suitable bearings 56, which in turn are mounted upon stationary parts of the machine frame. As is best shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 6, the rollers 55 are arranged in pairs, spaced apart to accon'nnodatc the gear racks 49 and 50, which. depend from the under parts of the I-bealns e13 and -11.

For supporting tl galyxtate to be perfor; 1l ed orpunched, a plu 'ality of rollers 57 are provided which, likewise, are suitably journaled in bearings carried by stationary parts of themachine frame. The rollers 57 not only sustain the plate or sheet to be punched, but also enable a very easy movement thereof through the machine'so that little eil ort is required on the part of. the operator.

The bridge 45 is provided with clamps 58 and 59 that carry set screws at their ends whereby the plate 42 maybe rigidly gripped so that movement of the bridge 15, as occasioned by movement of the carriage to which it is attached, will movethe plate through the machine. Likewise the bridge or n'iember 16 is provided with spaced clamps (30 and 61 whereby, at the proper time, the plate may be gripped so that it will beheld rigidly at both ends so that the whole moves as a unit along the bed of the machine. hen the plate is first started into the machine, however, it receives all of its movement from the bridge pusher As soon, however, as the first ttew holes are punched along the side of the plate, the bridge structure d6 is moved toward the plate until the clamps engage the same, at which time, the clamps aretightened and the bridge 4-6 secured to the ll-beams oi? the carriage. As the rear end or edge oi the plate is approached and before the plate can be entirely moved through the machine, the clamps carried by the bridge 15 are released and the final movement through the machine is occasioned by the pull of the bridge 46.

For punching holes along the side edges of the sheet, it is obviously necessary 'to stop tee plate at certain pointswhere it rests until the punch-es perforate the sheet and are stripped therefrom and then to move the plate to the next position. In order that this may be quickly and accurately ccomplished without the need or any pa.ticu.lar

skill upon the part of the operator, T have provided means whereby the carriage can be stopped at any of a very large number oli pro-determinedpoints, and since the plate moves with and by movement of the carriage, this will automatically position the plate as'required. To this end, I have provided a plurality of carriage spacing elements (32, 63, 6 1, and 65 which are designed for co-operation with mechanism carried by the bridge 4:5 and a plurality of elements (i6, 6?. 68 and 69 for c-o-actionwith mechanism carried by the bridge 46. The general construction and mounting of the'various members (552 to 69, inclusive, is alike, and hence a description of one will serve for all. To this end, considering the element 65, it will be found to be a relatively thin elongated bar or blade having upon its upper surface, a plurality of teeth or indentations 65. The bridge 1-5 carries a plurality of pawls or levers T0, T1, 72 and for co-action respectively with the elements 62 to 65 inclusive.- Only one of the pawls or levers to inclusive, will be used at time, and I therefore, provideineans whereby all except one thereof may be held upwardly orin inoperative position. This neans comprises a cross-shaft 74; upon which a plurality oil ditlierently formed cam surfaces are provided, these cam surfaces being so disposed that'by rotating the shaft 7d, the desired. lever or pawl 70 to 73 will be lowered into operative position whilst the remainii' g levers are held in inoperative position. The bridge to is likewise provided with a plurality of pawls or levers of a similar construction for co-action with the respective spacing men'ibers, 67 to 69 inclusive. It should be obvious that the carriage is moved, the operative pawl will drop into any depression that may bemade in the spacing bar with which it co-acts and the operator knows that the plate is then positioned for punching and may operate the punch without the necessity of even examining the plate to de termine its iiiosition under the punches. By thus providing a plurality of diitifcrently formed spacing bars, the machine is adapted to punch plates having holes spaced in great 'ariety. It a relatively few plates having hole spacings such as cannot be provided with the usual spacingbars, it is'a very simple matter to make a spacing bar, remove one of the spacing bars front the machine, and insert the one thus produced. It thus becon'ies clear thatthe side edges oi the plates which are perforated by the punches 12 and 12-3 may be quickly, easily and ac.-

curately fabricated.

I have also provided means whereby holes may be punched along the ends of the sheet, as well as elsewhere, intermediate the ends and inwardly of the holes that can be perforated by the groups of punches l2 andlS. All of such holes are formed by the punches 18 that are carried in the movable head 17, before described. In order to quickly and easily position the punches 1S and the die blockQl with which they co-aet the carriage 30 is provided with a plurality of pawls or levers 75, 76, 7 7 and 7 8 for engagement with a plurality of spacing bars 79, SO, 81 and 82. A cross shaft 83 is provided on which there are mounted cam surfaces so formed and positioned so that any one of the pawls 75 to 77, inclusive, may be moved to operative position, whilst the ren'iaining pawls are held upwardly in inoperative position. That is to say, assuming that four spacing bars are provided and tour pawls for co-action therewith, as here disclosed, three of the pawls will always be held in inoperative position. Thus, the pawl which is in operative position will drop into any depression that formed in such or the spacing bars 79 82 iuclusive with which it eo-acts. These depressions in the spacing bars are somewhat diagrammatically illustrated in the drawings and bear the reference character Set.

In starting the plate through the machine,

tioned adjacent what would be the right hand edge of the sheet or the near edge as viewed in the plan view of Fig. 3, The carriage 30 is then positioned by moving it until the operative pawl drops into the desired depression, at which time, the clutch 6 is moved to operath eposition causing, as be-- fore described, movement of the head 9, downwardly, which results in carrying the punches 1'? with itand through the plate to be perforated. The plate, as before de scribed, is stripped from the punches by means of the stripper elements 37. 'lhe'ca riage is then moved to the left until the operative pawl comes into engagement with the nextor desired depression, where it is stopped and the machine again operated to perforate the plate at that point. Since a relatively large number of punches may be mounted in the movable head 17, the necessary holes along the end of the plate can be very quickly, easily and accurately formed. IVith respect to all of the punches that are carried by themovable head 17, as well as the punches designated as .12 and 13, it will be understood that each punch is pro vided with means for causing it to become inoperative so that any or all, or so many, of any of the groups of punches as may be desired will be operative to perforate the plate. I

forth, it is mounted upon rollers that ride upon rails 86, and the pusher arm 39 that is secured to the carriage 30 is provided with a gear rack 87. A hand wheel 88 is provided for rotating the shaft 89 on which is mounted a'pinion 90 engaging with an idler gear 91 that meshes with'a pinion 92 which, in

turn, is in engagement with the gear rack For moving the carriage 30 back and opening was spotted under the punch. This was a slow, and laborious operation, and one which required considerable skill if any de- 1 gree of accuracy and speed was to be attained. In order to avoid this difficulty it has heretoit'orebeen the practice to set up a punch for every transversely positioned disaligned hole, but this is only practicable when a very largenumber of sheets are to be. perforated, as the time required for such set up is quite long. Such practice, furthermore, is not satisfactory because if some of the holes are disaligned,but a fraction of an inch, they cannot be punched in the same operation for the reason that the punches cannot be banked in the machine sufficiently close to accomplish that result. On the other hand, with my machine, all of the holes can be punched, no matter where they may be positioned, nor how slightly dis aligned one with respect to the other, and, furthermore, even a relatively few plates can be punched because it is only necessary to provide the relatively inexpensive and easily produced spacing bars, before described.

Inasmuch as this disclosure will readily suggest to others, modified constructions, whereby the substantial objects, and purposes of my invention may be attained, I do not wish to be limited to the specific construction herein shown and described, except only as may be necessary by limitations in the hereunto appended claims.

I claim:

1, A machine of the class described, em-' bodying therein a movable punch holder, a movable die block, a stripper element interposed between but supported indepencb ently of said punch holder and die block, and means for synchronously moving said stripper element, movable punch holder and co-operative. die block.

2. A machine of the class described, embodying therein a movable punch holder, a movable dieblock, a stripper element. interposed between but supported independently of said punch holder and die block, and means for locating said movable punch holder, stripper element, and die block at any desired position along a given line.

3. A machine of the class described, em-

bodying therein a movable punch holder, a movable die block, a stripper element in terposed between but supported independently of said punch holder and die block, and means for moving said movable punch holder, stripper element and die block to any desired position.

4. Amachine of the. class described, embodying therein a movable punch holder, a movable die block, a stripper'element interposed between but supported independently of said punch holder and die block, and means for locating said I movable punch holder, stripper element, and die block at any desired position along a given line, said means including a spacer bar.

5. A machine of the class described, embodying therein a movable punch holder, a movable die block, a stripper element interposed between but supported independently of said punch holder and die block, and means for locating said movable punch holder, stripper element, and die block at any desired predetermined position along a given line, said means including a spacer bar.

(3. A machine of the class describechembod ving therein a movable punch holder, a movable die block, a stripper element interposed between but supported independently of said punch holder and die block, and means for locating said movable punch holder, stripper element and die block at any desired position along a given line, said means including a ren'iovable spacer bar.

'7. A machine of the class described, embodying therein a movable punch holder, a movable die block, a stripper element interposed between but supported independently of said punch holder and die block, and means for moving said movable punch holder. stripper element, and die block to any desired positionalong a given line, said means including a removable spacer bar.

5%. A machine of the class described, embodying therein a movable punch holder, a movable die block, a stripper element interposed between but supported independently of said punch holder and die block, and means for locating said movable punch holder, stripper element and die blockat any desired predetern'iined position along a given line, said means including a removable spacer bar.

9. A machine of the class described, embodying therein a movable punch holder, a movable die block, a stripper element interposed between but supported independently ot said punch holder and die block, and means "for moving said movable punch holder, stripper element, and die block to any desired position along a given line, said means including a removable spacer bar.

10. A machine of the class described, embodying therein a movable punch holder, a movable die block, a stripper element interposed between but supported independently of said punch holder and die block, and

vmeans for locating said movable punch holder, stripper element and die block at any desired position along a given line, said means including a carriage, means connecting the carriage,punch holder,-die block and stripper clement, together with means for operating said carriage. I

, 11. A machine 01' the class described, embodying therein a movable punch hold-er, a

I movable die block, a. stripper element interposed between but supported independently of said punch holder and die block, and means for, locating sald movable; punch holder, stripper ele mcnt, and die block at any desired position along agiven line, said means including a spacer bar, a carriage having means engageable withthe spacer bar, means connecting the punchholdendie block and carriage, together with means for operating the carriage. I

12. A machine of the class, described,-em

bodying therein a movable punch, holder, a

movable die block, a stripper elemenointer posed between but supported independently of said punch holder and dievblock, and means for locating said movable punch holder,stripperelement, and die, block, at any desired position along a given line, said I means including a removable spacer bar, a

carriage having meansvengageable with} the spacer bar, means for connecting the punch holder, die block and carriage, together with means for operating the carr age.

18. A machine of the class described, em-

bodying therein a movable punchholder,

a movable dienblock, a stripperelement interposed between but supported independently ofsaid punch holderand. die block, and means for locating, said movable punch holder, stripper element and die block, at any desired position along a given line, said means including a plurality of spacer bars,

.a carriage having means engageable with the spacer bars, means connecting thepunch holder, die block, and carriage, togetherwith means, for 'operating, the carriage.

14-. A machine of the class described, em-

bodying therein a movable pun-ch holder,

a movable die block, a stripper element interposed between but supported independently of said punch holder and die block, and means for locating said movable punch holder, stripper element, and die block atany desired position along a given line, saidmeans including a plurality of ren'iovable spacer bars, a carriage having means engageable with the spacer bars, means connecting the punch holder, die block and carriage, together with means for operating the carriage.

15, A machine of the class described embodying therein, a horizontally movable punch holder, a die block movable therewith, a stripper element interposed between but supported independently of said punch holder and die block, means for locating said horizontally movable punch holder, stripper element and die block at any desired position along a given line, and means for moving a plate at any angle to theline of horizontal movement of said punch holder.

16. A machine of the class described embodying therein, a horizontally movable punch holder,'a die block movable therewith, a stripper element interposed between but supported independently of said punch holder and die block, means for locating said horizontally movable punch holder, stripper element and die block at any desired position along a given line, and means for moving a plate at an angle to the line of horizontalmovement of said punch hold-' er and locating the plate at any desired position. i

17. A machine of the class described embodying therein, a horizontally movable punch holder, a die block movable therewith, a stripper element interposed between but supported independently of said punch holder and die block, means for locating said horizontally movable punch holder, stripper element and die block at any desired position along a given line, said means including a carriage, means connecting the carriage punch holder, dieblock and stripper element, together 'with means for operating said carriage, and means for moving a plate at an angle to the line of horizontal movement of the said punch holder.

18. A machine of the class described embodying therein, a horizontally movable punch holder, a die block movable therewith, a stripper element interposed between but supported independently of said punch holdor and die block, means for locating said horizontally movable punch holder, strippei element and die block at any desired position along a given line, said means including a carriage, means. connecting the carriage punch holder," die block and stripperelement, together with means for operating said carriage, and means for moving a. plate at an angle to the line of horizontal movement of said punch holder and locating the plate atany desired position.

19. A machine of the kind described embodying therein a bed plate member, a head member mounted for vertical movement toward and away from the bed plate, a the block movable on the bed plate member, a punch holder movable on the head member, a stripper element interposed between the die block and punch holder, means for slidably supporting'the stripper element upon one of said members, and means forsynchronously moving said die block, punch holder and stripper element.

20. A machine of the kind described embodying therein, a bed plate, a movable die block thereon, a head mounted for vertical movement toward and away from said die block, a punch holder movable on said head, a stripper element interposed between said die block and punch holder, means on said head to the front and rear of said punch holder upon which the stripper element is movably mounted, and means for synchronously moving said die block, punch holder and stripper element.

21. A machine of the, kind described embodying therein, a bed plate, a movable die block thereon, a head mounted for vertical movement toward and away from said die block, a punch holder movable on said head, a stripper element interposed between said die block and punch holder, rails on said head to the front and rear, of said movable punch'holder and extending parallel with the direction of moven'ieut thereof, means for 'movably supporting said stripper element on said rails, and means for synchronously moving said die block, punch holder and stripper element.

22. A machine of the kind described embodying therein, a bed plate, a movable die block thereon, a head" mounted for vertical movement toward and away from said die block, a punch holder movable on said head, a strippe1- element interposed between said die block and punchholder, means on said head to the front and rear of said punch holderupon which the stripper element is movably mounted, means for imparting movement to said die block and punch holder, and means pivotally connected to said last mentioned means and said stripper ele- I ment so that said stripper element moves synchronously with said punch holder and die block. i

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 20th day of January, Q22,

,WILLIAM J. TANGERMAN, 

